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Survey: Video Makes Students Happier with Learning

07/11/18

Most people in education believes that video usage on campus increases student satisfaction with their learning experiences; more than nine in 10 respondents (92 percent) said just that to a recent research project on the topic.

The survey was done by Kaltura, a company that sells products and services for capturing, creating, managing and hosting videos. This is the fifth year the survey has been done, and the company acknowledged that the results show a particular bias: The survey was taken online by those who are "prone to a positive attitude toward video" in education. Respondents consisted of 1,500 "educational professionals, staff, technologists and students," with 14 percent in K-12 schools. Just about three-quarters (74 percent) are based in North America.

"Positive" may be understating the faith these individuals have in the power of video usage for good in education. Eighty-four percent believed video usage can increase student achievement. And nearly as many (83 percent) reported that video usage can increase instructor satisfaction with teaching and increase educator collaboration and professional learning. Eight in 10 respondents said video could smooth the onboarding process of new students; and 74 percent said the same for onboarding of employees.

Digital literacy remains high on the education agenda, the report asserted; a "resounding" 97 percent felt it is important to continue to raise the level of digital and video literacy among both instructors and students.

Interestingly, the survey found that instructors are behind students in their digital literacy skills, defined in the report as the abilities to "locate, organize, understand, evaluate, analyze, create and communicate information using digital technologies." Overall, when all respondents were asked how they would rate digital literacy levels among students and faculty or teachers, students came out on top; 83 percent of students were considered to be highly digitally literate, with instructors at 78 percent. And students were more likely to be rated as "very good," compared to instructors (25 percent vs. 15 percent). However, educators would take exception to that appraisal. According to the researchers, 19 percent of educators rated students' digital literacy as "poor" whereas 18 percent gave teachers the same rating; 20 percent assessed both groups as "very good."

While regular video usage isn't the norm in most schools, that's changing year by year. K-12 respondents were much more likely to report high levels of video usage by teachers; 56 percent said the majority of teachers are incorporating video. However, across all survey participants, K-12, higher ed and otherwise, more than a quarter of respondents (26 percent) said that the majority of their instructors "regularly" use video, up from 20 percent last year.

There's growth in the use of for video creation among students in K-12; 21 percent of respondents reported that more than half of their students are involved in creating video rather than simply watching it.

More than half of respondents from all types of educational organizations said video usage was used for flipping classrooms in their schools. That was cited by 54 percent of survey participants. Other, even more popular uses for video:

Showing video in the classroom (82 percent);

As supplementary course material (75 percent);

For student assignments (69 percent);

In lecture capture (68 percent);

For remote teaching and learning (62 percent);

To record campus events for on-demand viewing (57 percent); and

For external use, such as marketing (57 percent).

A small share of respondents said their schools are using video for more innovative uses, such as giving feedback to students (29 percent) or providing feedback to instructors (20 percent).

Respondents' schools are using a mix of methods for managing their video content. While seven in 10 reported that they use public sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo, 56 percent also said they use a video platform that's integrated with their learning management systems, 39 percent said they use video tools build right into the LMS, and a third (35 percent) have video portals that are controlled by the institution.

The most advanced video feature in use by schools is captioning. That was reported in current use by 52 percent of schools, with another 39 percent saying they'd "like to use" it. And while 39 percent of respondents noted that their schools allow for video viewing through mobile, 53 percent would like to offer that feature. More than a third of institutions also use synchronized slides (35 percent), in-video quizzing (34 percent) and chapters (33 percent), but many more would like to have those capabilities available. The feature with the least pick-up and least interest: note-taking; just 18 percent of schools are using that currently; another 21 percent don't see the value.

Capturing lectures can be handled in one of several ways: through hardware only, via software that uses existing cameras or a mix of the two, which seems to be the most popular approach, referenced by 40 percent of respondents. In those schools in particular, a "hodge-podge" of solutions is in place, consisting primarily of pre-built lecture capture hardware or do-it-yourself appliances.

Looking to the future, nearly every respondent (97 percent) expected interactive videos — those in which the content changes depending on viewer behavior — to be important in education; and the same share anticipate video usage for "self-paced curriculum." Predictive analytics and auto-scoring against a rubric of video assignments and assessments also loom large on the horizon, for 94 percent and 92 percent of respondents, respectively. The potential for virtual reality, augmented reality and 360-degree immersion in video also has a bright future, according to 89 percent of survey participants.

"The schools that have the infrastructure to support the construction of video in various courses and for various uses will benefit their students in preparing them for the work world and for better comprehension," said one participant from a North American community college. "The schools without vision to see the importance of video in education will lose retention and eventually lose out in general."

However, the use of video faces challenges, such as continued emphasis on developing students' digital literacy skills. "I think we need to emphasize critical thinking in video consumers, especially in today's political climate," said a respondent from a media team in a K-12 district. "Kids need to know to read between the lines and not just watch a YouTube video and believe it word-for-word."

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